Larnaca Marina to be Redeveloped

Three tenders for the development and expansion of Larnaca marina and port by private investors were submitted to the government yesterday for a project 13 years in the offing.

Tender after tender has been cancelled due often to a lack of interest in the project by private investors. As a result, the island has lost out on millions of pounds of revenues due to the smallness of Larnaca marina.
Many potential customers have over the years also turned to neighbouring countries, such as Greece, Turkey, Israel and Lebanon.

Now, however, three potential investors have submitted bids for the project, which will effectively join Larnaca port and marina into a huge complex that may even include hotels and housing units.
Vouros Investments Ltd, the Larnaca-Zenon joint venture and D.J. Karapatakis and Sons Ltd were the three consortia that submitted bids yesterday, Communications and Works Minister Maria Malaktou-Pampalli told a news conference in Nicosia.

“Once the project is completed, Larnaca port will become the main passenger port in Cyprus and large cruise ships will be able to moor there,” Malaktou-Pampalli said.

“This will be the biggest infrastructure project in Larnaca after the new international airport,” she added, referring to the 600-million euro construction of a new terminal due to be completed in 2009.
The Minister said that around 1,000 vessels would be able to berth at the new Larnaca marina compared to the 400 it can handle today. “Facilities will be high quality,” she added.

The project foresees the new marina up and running by the end of 2010, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Makis Constantinides told the Cyprus Mail.

Constantinides said it was difficult to put an estimate on the cost of the multi-million project as it would also encompass the development of Laranca port into a passenger terminal as part of a future phase. He was also unable to cite the capacity of the new passenger terminal until the Ministry examines what is being proposed by the consortiums.
“It's a unified project and it's going to be their [the contractor’s] baby,” he said. “It will be up to them and hopefully if everything goes well, we will make a decision by the end of the year.”

Malaktou-Pampalli said that as part of the project, the Phinikoudes area would be extended up to the marina and port with new pedestrianised roads, with more caf?s and restaurants.
“Today we enter the final stretch,” she said.
Also yesterday, the Minister announced that four tenders had been submitted for the new £180 million Paphos-Polis highway, which is due to be completed in four years.

The 31 kilometre four-lane motorway will include side-roads linking the main motorway to other towns in the area such as Latsi and Tsada, nine junctions, seven flyovers, two by-pass valleys, and two tunnels.
There will also be 25 underground and two over-ground passages to restore the existing road network, which could be affected from the construction.

“This is a very important project for the city and the district of Paphos as it will provide easy and safe access to the town and the north-western region, something that gives new prospects for tourist development,” the Minister said.

Commenting on the high cost for a 31-km stretch, Constantinides said it was because the government had chosen not just to focus on the technical aspects but the social effect of the road, as there had been some local concerns about the environment. That was why the flyovers and tunnels were being constructed, he said.

The four consortia which submitted bids yesterday for the road project were: Pafos-Marion, Elliniki Technodomiki TEB S.A, Strabag–Nemesis and Kinyras Kinyras.